— figuras folclóricas de discusión pública; my own personal canon
“The (Jack) Kirby tradition is to create a new comic.”
Warren Ellis, uno de mis autores predilectos, nos habla sobre JACK KIRBY, el exponente más importante en la historia del arte secuencial, y el legado que nos heredó y que aún persiste.
© Warren Ellis. Publicado originalmente el 25 de Junio de 2002.
– – – – – – – – – –
People talk a lot of shit about Jack Kirby, don’t they?
His name is usually brought up, these days, in terms of the revival of one of his creations, or in a cited return to or approximation of his style.
“It’s Kirby” means “it’s back to basics,” back to the way things used to be done, summoning his ghost for an art style or an aping of his story structure.
But that wasn’t Jack Kirby.
Jack Kirby created new stuff all the time. He created whole new publishing genres in comics. He created or co-created dozens of concepts for company-owned comics. Remember, back then, creator-owned publishing was the niche for the maverick or the sneaky. And when colour creator-owned comics did become viable, he created more there.
There wasn’t much left of him, by that point, but he was clearly still suffused with the need to make new things. He constantly invented and innovated.
Love stories. Horror. Detective. Westerns. Science Fiction and Fantasy. Boy’s adventure stuff. A couple of generation’s worth of seminal superhero work. Banging out new material, new stories, just for the hell of it; to keep things moving, to stay current, to stay alive, to make new things.
He didn’t often go backwards, in his career. That’s the Kirby Effect. It’s not about the way he draws fists or energy crackles. It’s not about getting to play with his toys so you can be like him.
It’s about making new things.
